Laparoscopic and thorascopic surgery continues to become more prevalent and popular amongst surgeons and their patients. This minimally invasive approach allows patients to heal faster, with a shorter convalescence period and decreased risk for wound complications. However, the techniques required to perform laparoscopic surgery are difficult to master and often require additional time and training for a surgeon to master and become proficient. Therefore, it is common for a laparoscopic surgery procedure to take longer to perform in the operating room (OR), than the same case performed with a larger, open incision. With increasing literature supporting the merits of minimally invasive surgery, and with numerous, strong requests from patients, a surgeon often chooses to perform a minimally invasive procedure, despite the potential for a longer procedure time. It is therefore, paramount to find ways to shorten the procedure time for minimally invasive surgeries, while still providing the patient all of the benefits of the minimally invasive procedure.
Indeed, in an era of tightly-regulated managed care, and medical reimbursement, efficiency is critical. Surgeons who can perform an operation well, but in a shorter period of time, optimize their productivity by minimizing costs. In addition, at a typical cost of $30/minute for OR time, any time saved during the operation leads to direct cost savings, as well as indirect benefits, such as freeing up additional time and resources for the surgeon.
In all laparoscopic and thorascopic operations, one of the most time-consuming events is cleaning of the scope lens. The scope can become stained during any portion of the operation, for a variety of different reasons, including, but not limited to, direct tissue or fluid contact, smudging, or condensation which may occur naturally over the course of the surgery. When this happens, the surgeon must remove the scope from the trocar to clean it, typically, by wiping it down with a sterile cloth and applying an anti-fogging solution to minimize condensation. During this time, the surgeon is completely blind as to what is happening to the patient in the operating field. To continue the cleaning process, the surgeon must also wipe down the trocar port site, which is also likely stained from the fluid or debris that has been tracked through by the scope as it was removed. This requires additional time, and depending on the amount of staining, the trocar may need to be at least partially disassembled, so that it can be more thoroughly cleaned. After cleaning, the surgeon reinserts the scope through the clean trocar. However, the lens can quickly become stained again, obstructing the surgeon's vision and necessitating another cleaning. Each time the surgeon removes the lens for cleaning and subsequently reinserts, the surgeon must also reorient to the patient's anatomy. It also may be necessary to adjust anatomy in the surgical field.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a device and method for the surgeon to clean the lens without having to fully remove the scope, during a minimally invasive surgical procedure.